We're fresh back from Portland and had a blast showing off our Chicago artists and building with some talented Portlandians. We got caught up on some new releases from back home from some of our favorites like Solo the Dweeb, Matt Muse and Tasha, got new videos from Saba and Smino, and some vibes from new friends Brown Calculus from Portland! Coming back again with our installment of Mixtape Mondays, our purpose is to enhance your musical knowledge with some of the dopest music that’s been buzzing through our ears at the AMFM Lab. So whether you’re riding your bike out through the neighborhood, or you’re waiting to hop on the Pink Line, here’s some jawns to keep y’all flowing through the week.

"WHAT'S LOVE": MATT MUSE FT. TASHA

MATT MUSE is one of those home-grown Chicago artists that never disappoints with the feel good summertime vibes reminiscent of the late 90s and early 2000s, but flips it in a modern style that by itself stands on its own accord. Once you hear the sample of Love Ballad in the background, it gives you a sense of how deep Matt Muse’s musical knowledge lies within the genre of hip-hop and soul music. Muse’s aggression over this smooth banger of a beat, in addition to the harmonic vocals of Tasha, this is an anthem about love that can be played on repeat at your favorite cookout, as it closes out with a lovely and poetic soliloquy from Tasha. Peep the track below.

"MOLLY IN THE KOOLAID": SOLO THE DWEEB

This past Saturday, we were blessed to have SOLO THE DWEEB, his team, and LSD Music Productions come through and give us a lively performance, one to remember as one of our most lit shows we’ve had at amfm thus far. Yeah, we might have had some structural damage, and the cops might’ve came...but did that deter us from getting lit that night? Hell no. Solo’s music video for “Molly in the KoolAid” is a strong reflectional image of who he is as an artist with that dark and gritty turn up music. The song actually comes in around the 1:40 mark, with a bit of a prelude that finesses in before the song. The trippy visuals, the Chinese typography, the vibrancy in the color patterns; they all are added layers to what already a banging-ass song.

"NETFLIX & DUSSE": SMINO

If you didn’t know before, you should know by now that blkswn by SMINO has been one of the best projects to come out of 2017 so far, and the lighthearted romantically inticing track “Netflix & Dusse” is one of the best cuts on the album. Now, he’s released a visual for it and in the video, we see Smino sliding through a drive-thru theater with a variety of baes as they sit back and watch some classic black and white films. At different points throughout the video, we see Smino sitting back in the passenger seat watching the film eating some popcorn, pouring up some Dusse, burning down a blunt, and getting his hair combed out - either way, he’s just chilling. Smino’s profile is getting a bit of a trajectory rise, and now he’s set to accompany SZA and Ravyn Lenae as they embark on the CTRL tour next month. Peep the video below, and consider yourself lucky if you scored tickets to the two-night sold out concert at Concord Music Hall on the 30th/31st of August.

"WORLD IN MY HANDS": SABA

To say that SABA has had a successful campaign since dropping Bucket List Project this past October would been quite an understatement. From seeing him perform with Chance on The Colbert Show to hearing his interview with the legendary Sway In the Morning, Saba’s been cooking quite a bit in the first half of 2017. And with his upcoming European tour to debut in October, it seems like it’s only right that the entire world deserves to hear what the 23-year-old Chicago MC has to give to them. That being said, Saba’s just released the music video for “World In My Hands,” featuring Smino and LEGIT. Directed by Tom Vin, the video infuses galactic visuals and animations of planets and stars, whilst cropping out the top half of Saba’s face, similar to that of the Hewlett Packard commercials from back in the day, like this one. Also, the video features cameos of Saba’s homies and collaborators spelling out their bucket list ambitions, one of which features MFn Melo (member of the Pivot Gang) talking about smoking weed with Solange, a feat that we all would find very enticing and enlightening to do. Peep the video below.

"SELF CARE": BROWN CALCULUS

If one had to define the term “multiple hustles,” Portland vocalist Vaughn Kimmons has embodied that, and worn it as a badge of honor. Containing multiple musical identities as singer in both the Brazilian funk-samba group POPGoji and soul band Tribe Mars, and half of BROWN CALCULUS, a “jazzy, intergalactic soul” project with keyboardist Andre Burgos; not to mention being the co-founder of YGB Portland, some would say that’s a lot to juggle. But for Vaughn, it’s simply just another way to maintain a level of musical balance. We were really blessed and delighted to be able to come to Portland and really delve into the music scene out there. That being said, we wanted to show love to our Portland sisters and brothers out there and bring back some of those vibes we felt out there with this smooth track from Brown Calculus titled “Self Care” with a strong message in their bio: “No matter who you are or where you are in the universe, always remember to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to love and take care of those around you. We Love You.” We definitely felt the love in Portland. Peep the track here.

"COCOA": B - COOL-AID

While we’re still on our West Coast high, we gotta keep the cookout bumping with this track entitled “COCOA” by Long Beach instrumentalist Ahwlee & LA-based visionary MC Pink Siifu’s new collaborative project B COOL-AID, who just announced that their debut LP will be released via MNDSGN’s new label Akashik Records. This track is heavily reminiscent of the Soulquarians in the early 90s. With the hazy off-kilter boom bap progression mirroring that of J Dilla mixed with the soulful and harmonic blends of D’Angelo, along with Siifu’s stream of consciousness rapping cadence; it’s reflective of being in a smoke-filled room, just freestyling off the top of the dome, a joint that lends itself on being hit with the repeat button, no questions asked. Be on the lookout for any releases they’ve got coming your way, and peep the track here.